Die Machtlosigkeit des nächsten deutschen Kanzlers

Submission Statement: Friedrich Merz, Germany’s likely conservative next chancellor, is campaigning to Make Germany Great Again by promising an economic revival and restoring Germany’s tarnished international credibility. However, many factors make this goal vanishingly unlikely.

In summary, Merz has yet to realize that Germany is a bystander in a world where the big three superpowers are led by strongmen also determined to make their nations great again- often at Germany’s expense. When it comes to real hard power, Germany cannot compete with the superpowers.

Both Xi and Trump are determined to destroy the German auto industry, Putin is determined to make Germany a Russian satellite, the Bundeswehr is a joke, and Germany has no natural resources. The odds for a German revival are slim. Europe as a whole risks being a passenger in a world controlled by Trump, Xi, and Putin.